BATON ROUGE - Governor Jeff Landry signed an executive order to suspend next month’s primary elections so state lawmakers can pass a new congressional map.

This comes after a Supreme Court decision that struck down Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district. In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservative majority found that the district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, relied too heavily on race.

“The best way to end race-based discrimination is to stop making decisions based on race,” said Governor Jeff Landry. “Here in Louisiana, we’re proud to lead the nation on this charge. Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters. This executive order ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the Legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map. I would like to thank Attorney General Liz Murrill for her hard work throughout this process.”

Landry said May 16 voting for U.S. House seats will be the only thing on ballots affected.